Wait a minute, mom and dad. Do you know the rating of the game your child is playing? Well, the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) has added another category to the current system in order to keep your younger ones safe from those evil video game influences. The new rating, “E10+,” (“Everyone 10 and older” )has been added to caution parents about games that contain “more cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, mild language and/or minimal suggestive themes,” according to the ESRB. This new rating wedges itself between the current ratings of “E” for everyone and “T” for teens. “E+10″ would be expected to cover “racing games with graphic crashes and fighting games with superheroes.” Those who don't know the current software ratings system can check out the ratings descriptor guide over at the ESRB site. Thanks to Reuters for the news on the change.

USER COMMENTS 79 comment(s)

esrb = bs(10:36am EST Fri Mar 04 2005)esrb can have as many ratings as it wants… fact of the matter little to no parents actually bother looking at it. There needs to be more enforcement on this before it can actually make a difference.

however, I like the fact that it does protect gaming manufacturers from frivolous lawsuits and protects my games of chioce. – by ESRB SUX.

Give it up, ESRB(11:51am EST Fri Mar 04 2005)Seriously, what do you do? Nothing important. For instance, when I was 16 GTA: Vice City came out, and obviously I wasn't old enough to buy it, even though I had the cash for it. Did that stop me from buying it? Heck no, I just went with my older brother and bought it. All we had to do was show the clerk his I.D., even though I was obviously the one paying for it.

Worse than that, the majority of the time cashiers don't even ask for the I.D. It happened at least a dozen different times to me and my friends.

So seriously, unless the ESRB is going to take over every game store and pay for all it's own employees, they should just stop. – by Douzo Yoko

waste of money…(1:46pm EST Fri Mar 04 2005)It's such a waste of time and money to get a rating from the ESRB form a publisher's standpoint. I agree with you ESRB SUX, in that it can protect publishers, but enforcement at the retail level is the key. I wish there was a voluntary system with a higher board to confirm the rating and/or enforce policies when a publisher is obviously trying to cheat the system. – by esrb=scam

Retailers and laws(3:54pm EST Fri Mar 04 2005)The key to making the rating effective is with the retailers and the laws. If there is no laws in place to prevent a retailer from selling a game that a kid shouldn't be buying then the ESRB is useless. Same thing applies if the laws are not enforced, or have enough “bite” to prevent games being sold to people who “shouldn't” buy them.

For several years I worked at a retail store that sold rifles and shotguns. Here in Canada we have strict gun laws. Only people with their licences could sell and buy the firearms and ammo. Fines, jailtime and possiblity of store losing its license was enough of a deterrant to break the law, at least from a retailers perspective. (these gun laws, while not a bad idea, were not properly thought out and implemented and cost Canadians over $2Billion and only made it more difficult for the honest person to gain guns, and didn't effect the 'criminals' from their normal means of acquiring guns.)

With that said, I cannot see any government placing strict legistlations on the sales of video games to particular age groups. The ESRB will just be a guide for the select few who wish to follow it. – by Voice of Me

why(5:08pm EST Fri Mar 04 2005)is there even an ESRB rating?i honestly dont give a damn if a game has an e or an m.ill still get the game. – by anonomus

geeks(5:23pm EST Fri Mar 04 2005)they were stupid – by butmunch 2000

Who cares(5:47pm EST Fri Mar 04 2005)No one cares about the rating when I'm at a games store there parents buying grand theft auto for their kids all the time the government needs to quit telling people to stop telling uswhat we should watch and what games our kids should play. Dman – by Mr. Spock

Idiot parents…(9:06pm EST Fri Mar 04 2005)are the one's that have no idea what their kids are playing… ESRB or not. As long as the game keeps the kids busy, these selfish idiots can go on with their lives and not be bothered by their offsprings.

ESRB is a good tool for those of us that actually CARE about our kids and what they're doing. Much like PG-13 and R movies… it's not all telling about the game, but I can tell just from the initial rating whether I want my kids watching it.

It's also there to placate the psycho soccer-moms that devote more time to “protecting” other people's children (rather than spending time w/ their own). But that's just an added benifit. – by Vertdang

This was brought on by horribly anal parents.(11:19pm EST Fri Mar 04 2005)I remember being in an arcade, and a dad asked me what was fun to play. I said the Simpsons arcade game was fun. He said no, his kids aren't playing games where people hit people.

This may help the game industry, inasmuch parents may begin doing their jobs and checking out what their kids are playing instead of blaming the videogame industry for making them to be enjoyed legitimately my millions. – by The Sound Defense

RE: Voice of Me(9:18am EST Sat Mar 05 2005)“I cannot see any government placing strict legistlations on the sales of video games to particular age groups.”

Over here there's fairly strict legislation on who can buy games – they're rated the same way as movies:

U – Universal, suitable for all12 – Only for people 12 and over15 – Only for people 15 and over18 – Only for people 18 and over.

Works fine (for the most part) over here in the UK… – by Grey

Recommendation(1:20pm EST Sat Mar 05 2005)What the box says is just a reccomendation, you can buy it if you want, but if it has 15 or 18 in a little circle then you can't buy it. Trust me, if you tell this to the cashier loud enough and enough times he'll let you have it. – by Avalanche

I think we all know(6:17pm EST Sat Mar 05 2005)That these ratings are not designed to stop kids from buying violent games, but to prevent video game companies from being sued. If a parent is dumb enough to think a game called Grand Theft Auto is ok for their 5 year old, the rating system is gonna be ignored anyway. – by BoogiepopLain

A rather pathetic attempt at a name(1:49am EST Sun Mar 06 2005)Wow, kind of a sad sounding rating. E10+? maybe they could have used G for guidance or W for Warning. or C for caution. just something better than E10+. It just doesn't roll off of the tounge like T, M, or even PG-13 – by ciikesef